MEET FRODO! He was born on June 30, 1976. Frodo is described as a "michevious youngster". He has been living in the Gombe Chimpanzee project and is the largest recorded chimp in their history. He weighs in at 115 pounds!!! It's no surprise that such a large chimp would quickly rise to the the top in the heirarchy of chimps. We can kind of consider Frodo to be a "chimp giant" but as we see within humanity, people who are considered "giants" tend to suffer from heart problems or other medical issues. BUT NOT FRODO! when the other males in his group suffered from an outbreak of sarcoptic mange, Frodo managed to stay healthy and strong. (sacrpotic mange: a mite- related skin infection usually seen in animals with fur)
Frodo has a healthy appetite (loves to eat meat) and is "very agile" for his size! He hunts colobus monkeys to eat them and because of his agility, he is able to jump from tree to tree catching them. His large size often pressures other chimps to share their food with him. Frodo quickly learned to throw his weight around to get what he wants. This kind of behavior has made him quite unpopular.
There was once an occasion where Frodo was bullying the other chimps in the group and dent them hiding, after they left he sat down waiting to be groomed and the same chimps that ran away from him came back to groom him. We have to remember that Frodo is still a wild animal and might not have the capabiltiy to control his vicious attacks.
In 2002 a women who works that the park where Frodo lives was walking down a path with her 16 year old niece and 14 month old baby. They were walking to visit the womans husband who also worked at the park, just 2 miles down the road. Frodo saw the 3 and approached the baby. He grabbed the baby and disappeared. They could see Frodo up in the trees holding the babys limp body. Park workers were able to scare Frodo and he left the baby.
It was debated whether or not to euthanize Frodo. Park representatives understand Frodo was just exhibiting normal hunting behaviors for chimpanzees since they often hunt the babies of colobus chimps. Therefore Frodo was kept alive.
Frodo became sick in 2002 and lost a lot weight but a couple years later in 2004 he seemed to be making a comeback and was gaining his weight back along with his strength!
References
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0304/feature4/online_extra2.html
http://www.discoverchimpanzees.org/chimps/frodo_bio.php#
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mange
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